BUILD Opinion on a proposed build

[chrisbarnes1981]

Hi

New to the whole Freenas game however been reading from the shadows for a while and taken some pointers towards designing a build. i was wondering if you could all tell me what your opinions are of the following build which has been designed through the cyberpower website. I am using that site so that i can get it on a finance deal as i cant pull it all out in cash in one

• Cooler Master N300 Mid-Tower Gaming Case w/USB3
• MSI Z170-A Krait Gaming INTEL Z170 Chipset, ATX Mainboard w/ 4 RAM slots, USB 3.1, 3 PCIe x16, 3 PCIe x1, 1 SATA Express, 4 SATA3, 1 Ultra M.2
• INTEL® Core™ i3-6320 Dual Core 3.90 GHz 4MB Cache LGA1151 + HD Graphics
• Maximum Airflow with 3 x 120mm Silent Case Cooling Fans in selected case key areas for ultra silent operation - AKASA Silent Fans1,200 RPM with Sleeve Ball Bearing 17 dBA and LED light to match the Fans already in the case
• • Cyberpower Sound Absorbing Foam -- reducing audible noise transmitted through solid case panels by up to 75%
  • Cyberpower Anti-Vibration Fan Mounts -- reducing the noise transmitted from Fans
  • Cyberpower Power Supply Gasket -- reducing the noice transmitted from Power Supply
• Be Quiet Dark Rock 3 CPU Fan with 6 x Direct Contact heat-pipes
  
• 60 GB(ish) SSD to run the OS from
  
• 2 x WD Red 3TB 3.5" SATA NAS Hard Drives
• 2 x 8gb ECC Ram
• Integrated onboard Graphics and audio cards
  
• Cooler Master 500 Watts B500 B2 Gaming Power Supply, 80+

have i missed anything?
Do you think this case is the right size or would it be better inside a mini case?


Sorry if this all seems a bit noob but im reaching out to you guys who know your stuff to help me! :)

 

[ChriZ]

Your parts seem compatible, but you are building a server here.
So why did you choose gaming parts while you should be choosing server parts?
I think that opting for a haswell server build will guarantee maximum compatibility and will not cost more.

 

[chrisbarnes1981]

Like i said im restricted on what i can buy due to the fact i dont have disposable cash to buy it outright and this company can do the deal on finance. These parts are what i could pull together and all be compatible while trying to stick to the basic musts for a Freenas server.

 

[Mirfster]

+1 @ChriZ these parts are better suited for gaming.

I understand your point about financing, but this looks to be very new hardware that may not even be totally compatible with FreeNas. Saw that it lists " USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C"; which may give you issues from the start. Not to mention the "MULTI-GPU with Steel Armor: Steel Armor PCI-E slots. Supports NVIDIA SLI & AMD Crossfire" is pretty much a waste for FreeNas.

What is the use case for FreeNas? Since you mentioned only "2 x WD Red 3TB 3.5" SATA NAS Hard Drives", I would presume that you are not looking at any major load?

Have you considered looking into a Dell T20 or Lenovo TS140 as a cheaper alternative to getting started?

 

[ChriZ]

Yeap..
The whole thing may not work at all -waste of money.
It may seem to work but one day starts acting strange - possible waste of data and money.
The financial issue is understood, but realistically speaking, i don't think that anyone in here will recommend this build.

 

[chrisbarnes1981]

And the T20 cans till stand up to the server requirements of freenas ok? i am planning on using it to house my media for my HTPC. HTPC is an Intel NUC so no need for the server to do the transcoding. I will probably dabble in other features of Freenas as i get used to the system.

 

[Mirfster]

And the T20 cans till stand up to the server requirements of freenas ok?

Yep, do a search in the forums and you will find that is it mentioned quite a bit.

Example: Least expensive build

Just keep in mind what your use case is... If you are wanting to run VMs, then requirement may change.

 

[chrisbarnes1981]

Well it looks like you guys have helped make up my mind! I think a T20 is the way im gonna go. Anyone got any experience of power usage and noise output? Is it worth replacing the PSU and case fans for quieter ones or will it be ok?

 

[religiouslyconfused]

T20 is said to be pretty quiet, but @Robert Trevellyan can chime in on that. Haswell (CPU architecture in T20) is very power efficient, so no need to be concerned.

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

I have a T20 at my feet all day in a quiet home office, and the only thing I hear from it is disk activity.